Pitfalls of the Consumer Arbitration Clause

If you are a consumer (and who isn't) you owe it to yourself to read
the series of articles that the New York Times ran this week concerning
an alarming trend in the business community: the growing practice of corporations
inserting mandatory arbitration clauses into sales agreements. These clauses
are buried deep within multi-page user agreements so that consumers rarely
know about them, despite the fact that by entering into these agreements
businesses are forcing consumers to waive their constitutional right to
a jury trial should they be the victim of any wrongdoing by these corporations.
Many of these clauses also force consumers to waive their right to join
a class action against that corporation.

The end result is that in many instances, consumers are left with little
recourse should they be a victim of corporate wrongdoing. The right to
start a lawsuit and the right to a jury trial are waived. Your case will
be decided by a corporate arbitrator, with no right to appeal. Not surprisingly,
most victims lose under this process or are never able to bring their
claim in the first place.

And lest you think that this only affects disputes over a few dollars,
think again. These mandatory arbitration clauses are now spreading to
areas one would never have expected. Recently, a victim of nursing home
abuse had her lawsuit dismissed because the nursing home admission papers
that her family signed contained a mandatory arbitration clause buried
deep within the many pages of forms they were presented with when she
entered the facility.

The lesson here: read everything before you sign, and call your congressman
to let him know that this outrageous practice needs to stop.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.

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